Analysis: February 2009 NPD Console Sales

It's that time again, boys and girls -- time for NPD Group's hardware sales figures! Here's how February 2009 went down according to the company:

Nintendo Wii - 753,000

Nintendo DS - 588,000

Xbox 360 - 391,000

PlayStation 3 - 276,000

PlayStation Portable - 199,000

PlayStation 2 - 131,000

Everybody is up from January, which isn't a big surprise. On the Nintendo front, I'm still waiting for this slowdown that analysts keep expecting. In North America, I don't see any sign of it. The company's numbers are still preposterous. I'm curious to see what happens in April, when theDSi launches. If the Japanese sales are any indication, Nintendo's upcoming handheld will perform well.

Once again, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has outsold Sony's PlayStation 3, furthering its lead in the territory. March will be an interesting month for comparison. Although Killzone 2 received a ton of hype and great reviews, I don't think it's a system seller. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see the sales gap being about the same when the March numbers are tallied.

Overall, NPD Group claims that overall video-game sales are up 11 percent from February 2008. That's amazing considering The Great Recession. For analysis of February 2009 software sales, be sure to check out Brian's report.

What are your thoughts on February 2009's console figures? Any surprises? Any predictions for next month?